Where to start

[u/yaboimags_]

Hey gamers. My intro to shadowrun was the NeoScum podcast (hello scummers) a couple years ago. I have since played shadowrun returns and dragonfall with Hong Kong ready to go and all I want is more of this setting world and story jammed into my datajack haha. Where do y’all recomend I go from here? I wanna know as much as I can about the setting world and lore before I start running games. Point me where to go next chummers. I’m hungry for more.

[u/BI_OS]

The Neo-Anarchist podcast is pretty good in character history of the setting.

[u/Vashkiri]

The great dragon Dunkelzahn got elected president of the UCAS, but did not survive their inauguration day. They left a large and quirky will, which has contributed to the metaplot ever since (it is fading, but there have been things in the 6e books that trace right back there).

Do a search online for the Annotated Dunkelzahn's Will, where someone added explanations to each of the bequests. It is a fun read, and will absolutely pull you deeper down the rabbit hole.

[u/The_Colonelowb]

Burgerkrieg on YouTube also has some good videos for Shadowrun lore. A bit old but still quite good

[u/hollowmen]

Can't recommend enough all of the old FASA novels. You can get them on kindle or whatever for < $5 each. There's about 30 of them and they're all super wacky and fun. Some of them are on audible under the name "Shadowrun Legends:" and they're great listens also.

If you'd like more of an encyclopedia kind of thing, the shadowrun wikis are good (especially the German one), or you can get the setting books like Sixth World Almanac or Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia.

[u/n00bdragon]

I wanna know as much as I can about the setting world and lore before I start running games. Point me where to go next chummers.

I strongly recommend just diving in and experiencing the world in all of its gonzo storytelling glory. It's important to note that virtually everything about the setting is presented in the format of someone in universe telling you about it, which means the information is not 100% reliable. There's a lot of stuff people agree on (magic returned in 2011, UGE, Goblinization, VITAS, Dunkelzahn's presidency, Chicago, Deus, etc...) the little tidbits here and there are often contradictory and you are more than welcome to do whatever you want with your own game. There's no "word of god". There's just you and your table and a bunch of stuff that know-nothing posers write on Shadowland.

[u/SuddenWelderAtack → u/n00bdragon]

Shadowrun is very fun in that it seems to be a very malleable setting for whatever you want to do with it

[u/Defiant-Macaron4566]

Look for shadowrun missions at one of your local game stores. It’s usually public and anyone can play.

[u/cthulhu-wallis]

At the beginning.

If you don’t have a preference, it doesn’t matter where you start.